Volume 19, No.8

AUGUST 2004

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CONTENTS

God Provides

Hugs 'N Tugs
By Wendy Greiner Lefko

The Best of Lifeline 
By Rev. Larry W. Greiner

Billy Sunday's Bible

Bottled-Up Intentions

The Extended Hand

True Greatness

An Odd Number

Total Obedience

Greiner Itinerary

Praise & Prayer

GOD PROVIDES

“Can God furnish a table in the wilderness” (Psalm 78:19)…. “From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness” (Mark 8:4).

When our Lord fed the multitude there was a bread problem.  There was a budget proposed—Philip “made an estimate” that two hundred pennyworth of bread would not feed such a crowd.  There was a boy presented—Andrew, always introducing somebody to Jesus (the Greeks who came to see Him, his brother, Peter) said, “There is a lad here.”  There was a bounty provided—plenty of food with basketsful left over.  When God provides there is always a surplus, for He giveth liberally.   —Vance Havner

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HUGS 'N TUGS

By Wendy Greiner Lefko

Decisions! Decisions! Our 5-year-old daughter, Grace, is learning the consequences of decision making.  On a recent trip to the store, she had some spending money.  Like any lady knows, it can be quite the ordeal to make a choice and stick with it when it comes to shopping, so when it came time to make her final decision, she couldn’t make up her mind.  Finally she made her choice between two possibilities and seemed content with her decision.  However when she got home that night, all she kept saying was, “I wish I had gotten the other thing!”

It was an optimal opportunity to teach her what goes along with making decisions. Every day we face choices. Some will be inconsequential while others will have rippling effects throughout other areas of our life.  Some decisions will affect those around us in good ways or bad.  Some choices will affect people we don’t know, just by our testimony being lived out before them, but all our choices will have consequences one way or another.  Talk shows on radio and television, both Christian and secular, are filled with poor souls who have made wrong decisions and are now seeking help in  dealing with their seemingly hopeless situations.        Decision making is a fact of life, and how we make them determines the path we take.  Determining God’s will is not always easy, but if we “seek first the kingdom of God ” He promises to light the rest of the way.  The most crucial decision is choosing whom we will serve—self or God, the world or the Lord Jesus Christ.  We cannot serve both. Choosing to serve Christ alone does not guarantee a smooth path. In fact the Word says it will be a rough road, but with Christ as your Guide and Companion it is far better than the smooth road with the enemy leading you down the path that only ends in destruction.  With Christ’s help we can make wise decisions and have the fortitude to stay the course when the way gets bumpy and the enemy taunts us with questions of doubt and uncertainty.  As we choose to serve God and not self, we are well on our way to winning the battle.  It’s a daily fight, but we need to remember we can choose to be on the Victor’s side!  “Choose you this day whom ye will serve….but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

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THE BEST OFLIFELINE

By Rev. Larry W. Greiner

Two men, one a foreman, the other, one of the carpenters, were standing on the deck in one of the ship-building yards in England . “Sam,” said the foreman, “I have been anxious to have a conversation with you. I’m told you are one of those people who say they know for certain that they are saved. Is that true?”  “Yes,” said Sam, “quite true. Thank God I know I’m saved. In fact there is nothing I’m more sure of than that I’m saved.”  

“Well,” said the foreman, “that is something I cannot see through.  How can any man say he is saved as long as he is in this world? I think it is presumptuous for anyone to say so. I used to attend a place of worship many years ago, and several of the leading men pressed me to become a member, but I could not, for I knew I was not a Christian and told them so. In fact, I was disgusted with them, for I knew so many who went to that church and pretended to be saved but who were as bad as I was.  I left and have not gone to church since. I concluded the whole thing was a sham, and that there was no reality in Christianity at all.” 

“Well,” said Sam, “there is a reality in being a child of God and knowing it.  What is the breadth of this waterway?”  The foreman, astonished at the sudden change in the conversation, said, “14 feet all round.  What makes you ask?” “But are you quite sure it is 14 feet?”  “Certainly.”  “But what makes you so sure?” asked Sam. “I’m going by the book I got from headquarters.”  From his pocket he pulled a book in which were marked the sizes and position of the various things on the deck.”   “Oh! I see,” said Sam. “And that is exactly how I know I’m saved. I’m going by the Book. It is God’s Word and it came from headquarters.  I read that I was a lost, condemned sinner.  But I also found that ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’. I took God at His word, and I’m saved. You, too, may be saved if you will believe on Jesus. Trust Him as your Savior and repent of your sin. Then you can say, ‘I know I’m saved, for I’m going by the Book.’”  The foreman looked at Sam and said, “Now I can see it!  Sam, I want to become a Christian.”  Sam then led his foreman to Christ.   

Are you sure of your salvation today?  If not, why not make sure by “going by the Book”—the Bible. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”  “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (1 John 5:13)

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FOUND IN BILLY SUNDAY’S BIBLE

Twenty-nine years ago, with the Holy Spirit as my Guide, I entered at the portico of Genesis, walked down the corridor of  the Old Testament art galleries where pictures of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Isaac, Jacob, and Daniel hung on the wall.  I passed into the music room of the Psalms where the Spirit sweeps the keyboard of nature until it seems that every reed and pipe in God’s great organ responds to the harp of David, the sweet singer of Israel .

I entered the chamber of Ecclesiastes where the voice of the preacher is heard, and into the conservatory of Sharon and the lily of the valley where sweet spices filled and perfumed my life.

I entered the business office of Proverbs and on into the observatory of the prophets where I saw telescopes of various sizes pointing to far-off events, concentrating on the bright and morning Star which was to rise above the moonlit hills of Judea for our salvation and redemption.

I entered the audience room of the King of Kings, catching a vision written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Thence into the correspondence room with Paul, Peter, James, and John writing their Epistles.

I stepped into the throne room of Revelation where tower the glittering peaks, where sits the King of Kings upon His throne of glory with the healing of nations in His hand and I cried out:

All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem
And crown Him Lord of all!

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THE ONLY HOPE OF DECREASING SELF IS AN INCREASING CHRIST. —F. B. Meyer

BOTTLED-UP INTENTIONS

Getting up from the floor, where he had been using his new drawing pen, a nine-year-old boy said to his grandmother, “Look what I drew—a dog!”  “Where’s his tail?” his grandmother asked him. “It’s still in the bottle.”

So many of our good intentions are “still in the bottle.”  We mean to spend more time in prayer, a certain period each day to read the Bible and speak with God.  Or we plan to order our lives so as to have time to do thus-and-so to serve the Lord.  But often these well-meant intentions never get into the picture.  Begin now and finish what you intended to do long ago.

—Dr. E. Schuyler English

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GOD CAN NEITHER DIE NOR LIE.—Thomas Brooks

THE EXTENDED HAND

Mr. Hoste, successor to Hudson Taylor in the directorate of the China Inland Mission, was accustomed to pray aloud and sometimes to pray while walking up and down his garden path.  One day he was doing so in the garden of the mission headquarters of Shanghai .  The request had been made that he should not be disturbed.  But with that simplicity characteristic of childhood, a little girl ran across to him and, taking the proffered hand, walked up and down with him as he prayed.  By and by she heard her own name mentioned in his prayers, and then she ran home.  She told her mother that Mr. Hoste had prayed for her.  When she was reproved for disturbing him, she replied, “But he held out his hand!”  That was justification enough.  

Our Lord’s hand is extended today.  We can come boldly and walk with Him in fellowship and communion, knowing He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father.  “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:34).

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How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, patient with the old, sympathetic with the striving, tolerant with the weak and the strong, because someday in life you will have been all of these.  —George Washington Carver

TRUE GREATNESS

A young man who worked in an aquarium explained that the most popular fish is the shark.  If you catch a small shark and confine it, it will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium.  Sharks can be six inches long yet fully mature.  But if you turn them loose in the ocean, they grow to their normal length of eight feet.  That also happens to some Christians.  I’ve seen some of the cutest little six-inch Christians who swim around in a little puddle.  But if you put them into a larger arena—into the whole creation—only then can they become great. —Leadership magazine,Winter 1986

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AN ODD NUMBER

A real Christian is an odd number anyway.,   He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see, expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order to be full, admits he is wrong so he can be declared right, goes down in order to get up, is strongest when he is weakest, richest when he is poorest, and happiest when he feels worst.  He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passeth knowledge. — A.W. Tozer

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SUBMISSION + HUMILITY – WORRY = RELIEF

TOTAL OBEDIENCE

Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have this day done one thing because He said, “Do it,” or once abstained because He said, “Do not do it.”  It is simply absurd to say you believe or even wanting to believe, in Him, if you do not do anything He tells you.

—George MacDonald

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GREINER ITINERARY                        

August 8 A.M. Pineville Chapel (Larry & Sharon)
                                  Pineville , PA

August 14-20   Montrose Bible Conference

Sept. 10    Evangelical United Methodist
                                  Clarksboro , NJ

Sept. 12 A.M.    Belmont Baptist
                                  Broomall , PA

Sept. 12 P.M.    Springhouse Estates                              

Bob’s Korean ministry every Friday & Sunday

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PRAISE & PRAYER

·     Praise for commitments made for Christ at our July 4th  concert at America ’s Keswick.  

·     Praise for continued increase in strength and weight for Claire.   He had his 6th chemo treatment on July 21.   Your prayers have meant so much.  

·     Praise and prayer for Bob’s Korean youth ministry.

·     Pray for our week of ministry at Montrose Bible Conference in August.  Lord willing, all the family will be there to share in praise to the Lord.

·     Pray for Larry as he seeks to advance the ministry of Family Christian Inspiration in its outreach.

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